Harvey: Texans have their quarterback, for better or worse

The Texans aren’t, coach Bill O’Brien said Tuesday, not for a quarterback.

They’re not looking for another quarterback to appear there, not Ryan Mallett, not Josh Freeman, not Luke McCown, not Colt McCoy.

The Texans, O’Brien said, will have three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster to start the season. Their names are Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum and Tom Savage, in that order for now. That could change after Thursday night’s preseason game against San Francisco, when Keenum and Savage are expected to see a lot of action. But Keenum remains the backup for Fitzpatrick until further notice.

Asked about the possibility of bringing in another quarterback, O’Brien has said since the day he arrived the Texans would consider anyone who would help the team. He gave a different answer Tuesday, saying the Texans aren’t in the market anymore for another quarterback.

“I would say more than likely there will be three quarterbacks on the roster to start the season,” he said. “I would tell you that, obviously, these three have been with us for awhile, especially Case and Ryan and then Tommy came in after the draft. So, more than likely, these will be the three.”

Asked if that were because they have experience with his offense, O’Brien said, “You have to put value in that because they’ve put a lot of work in and they know the system. All three of them have an understanding of the system. They’ve all had their share of decent moments. Like all of us, they’ve had their share of not so good moments. But they’ve improved every week, and so you definitely take that into account.

“You also take into account that you’re always going to try to do whatever is best for the football team because you owe that to the other 52 guys. You do what’s best for the team. But, at the end of the day, these three guys, certainly, you take that into account that they’ve put a lot of work in.”